Zoos Bring Animal Kingdom to Patients at Primary Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House Charities in Salt Lake City

Today, a unique collaboration designed to entertain and educate patients and their families about wildlife was announced through a partnership between the San Diego Zoo, Utah’s Hogle Zoo, Primary Children’s Hospital, and Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Intermountain Area. Funded through a generous gift by businessman and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford, Primary Children’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Intermountain Area, the Utah’s Hogle Zoo and San Diego Zoo Global announced the arrival of San Diego Zoo Kids in Salt Lake City.

San Diego Zoo Kids is a television broadcast channel that features programming about unique and endangered animal species. It is now available on TV monitors in every patient room at Primary Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Intermountain Area.

“Primary Children’s Hospital is honored to be a part of this partnership with Hogle Zoo and San Diego Zoo to further enhance the healing environment for our patients,” says Katy Welkie, CEO of Primary Children’s Hospital. “The patients we care for and serve love the interaction with animals and the outside world, and our parents and families enjoy the connection to nature. This is also an important extension of our ongoing partnership with Hogle Zoo and elephant research related to cancer.”

The channel features video from the San Diego Zoo’s famous Panda Cam as well as other live, online cameras, fun and educational pieces about a variety of animals and up-close video encounters of popular animals with the San Diego Zoo’s national spokesperson, Rick Schwartz.

“We at the Ronald McDonald House are so delighted to be part of the launch of the San Diego Zoo Kids Channel. Many of the families with sick or injured children, staying at our Ronald McDonald House, have traveled to Salt Lake City from small rural towns throughout Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada and Montana for needed specialty pediatric care,” said Carrie Romano, Executive Director of Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Intermountain Area. “They come from communities that may not have a zoo and when they’re here for medical care for their children, the child is often not well enough to visit local sites, like our Utah’s Hogle Zoo. The Zoo Channel will bring the animals to the children and their families – along with countless smiles!”

Animals—of any kind—bring smiles to children

“Connecting kids and animals – what could be more natural? Hogle Zoo is proud to partner with San Diego Zoo Global, Primary Children’s Hospital, and Ronald McDonald House Charities in launching the ‘San Diego Zoo Kids’ Network here in Salt Lake City,” said Craig Dinsmore, Executive Director, Utah’s Hogle Zoo. “We hope that providing this entertaining and educational programming will bring a little joy to kids and families who are dealing with serious health challenges.”

“We have always believed in the importance of putting people in touch with animals as a way to conserve species,” said Doug Myers, president and CEO of San Diego Zoo Global. “What we have heard from medical care professionals is that animal interaction and animal stories can also help promote well-being. San Diego Zoo Global has a wealth of animal stories and, through the generosity of Denny Sanford, we are able to bring these stories to the families at Primary Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House Charities of Salt Lake City.”

San Diego Zoo Kids debuted at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego on Dec. 18, 2013, Los Angeles Children’s Hospital on February 14, 2014, Sanford Children’s Hospital on March 3, 2014, Children’s Hospital Colorado on March 5, 2014, and all three Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta hospitals on June 20, 2014.

About Primary Children’s Hospital
Primary Children’s Hospital is a free-standing children’s hospital located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The 289-bed hospital cares for children with complex illness and injury from across the western United States. Primary Children’s is the only Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center serving the intermountain region. It is part of Intermountain Healthcare, a non-profit healthcare system, and it is the pediatric teaching hospital for the University of Utah School of Medicine.

About Ronald McDonald House Charities
It’s something we see every day children – healing faster because they’re surrounded by their families. For over 25 years we have provided a comforting, supportive and healing place for families seeking medical care for their ill or injured children. Ronald McDonald House Charities® of the Intermountain Area (RMHC) provides stability and resources to families so that they can keep their child healthy and happy. Since opening our doors in 1988, we have helped over 45,000 families to stay close in a place that feels like home through our two core programs: Ronald McDonald House® and Ronald McDonald Family Room®.

There are many ways to get involved. You can make a charitable donation, volunteer with your family, company, church or other group. You can participate in the Adopt-A-Meal program, collect pop tabs, hold wish list drives, fundraisers or any other needed projects.

Your support is vital to our mission and will directly impact the lives of thousands of families each year experiencing one of life’s most heart-wrenching moments. Through your involvement, you can give families the ability to spend more precious time together. This means more hugs, more kisses and more “I love you’s.”

To find out more about Ronald McDonald House Charities in Salt Lake City and how to help families stay close when it matters most, visit www.ronaldmcdonaldhouseutah.org or call 801.363.4663.

About Utah’s Hogle Zoo
Utah’s Hogle Zoo is a Utah treasure. Located since 1931 on 42 acres in a unique canyon setting in the eastern foothills, the Zoo is Salt Lake City’s most visited paid attraction and one of the top visited attractions in the state. Utah’s Hogle Zoo is one of just over 200 facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). Look for the AZA logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you, and a better future for all living things. For more information visit www.aza.org

About San Diego Zoo Global
Bringing species back from the brink of extinction is the goal of San Diego Zoo Global. As a leader in conservation, the work of San Diego Zoo Global includes onsite wildlife conservation efforts (representing both plants and animals) at the San Diego Zoo, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, as well as international field programs on six continents. The work of these entities is made accessible to children through the San Diego Zoo Kids network, reaching out through the Internet and in children’s hospitals nationwide. The work of San Diego Zoo Global is made possible by the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy and is supported in part by the Foundation of San Diego Zoo Global.

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